Emma was worn out and thankful she had convinced her parents to allow her a break from shopping. She had hit her limit between conversations where her parents were asking about her new school, friends and everything under the sun as well as her siblings curiousity. It seemed that she was destined to get very little rest this Christmas break.

She hadn't even really needed to go to Diagon Alley but her parents wanted to make sure she never ran out of school supplies and her siblings probably had begged to go. Although that sounded awful, she was in her snarky mood, at least in her head. She'd never say the words out loud. Emma had begged her parents to let her warm up and take a break in the Leaky Cauldron and they had conceded with the promise that she not leave the building.

Emma fought through the crowds, wondering if this really was the better option. Emma managed to grab someone's attention and ask for a butterbeer, paying quickly before turning around to survey the darkened inside. Seeing an empty table towards a corner, she practically ran to it, slumping in the seat before straightening, taking a sip of her butterbeer and pulling out her copy of Hogwarts: A History from her goldenrod messenger bag. Placing the book on the table, she removed her simple emerald green winter coat, and her mittens were placed carefully
in the pockets. Her hat was thrown into the bag, after which her hufflepuff scarf was placed over the back of her chair. Emma laid the book down, opening to where she had placed her bookmark from the previous night, and began to read, occasionally looking around and taking small sips of her butterbeer, unsure how long her family would remain in Diagon Alley.

@Rayne Chance

Meeting@Emma Wynn

'I'll be fine Mum,' Rayne protested. 'Only for an hour, just in that pub, there.' Rayne explained, pointing at the Leaky Cauldron. They were practically begging their mum to let them go, they needed space away from their twins for a minute.
Their mum sighed. 'Ok, but I want you keeping an eye out the window for me, I'll come and get you soon.'
'Thank you,' Sighed Rayne gratefully. With any luck, their mum would get caught up buying stuff for the twins, giving Rayne as long as they needed.

They pushed on the door and the sound of a bell ringing was just audible above the chatter. The place was packed.
Rayne started bushing towards the counter.
'Sorry, could I just get past, thanks, excuse me' Eventually they made it, asking for a butterbeer.
Their cheeks were rosy from the cold, and their nose felt numb. A minute later, a glass of hot butterbeer was placed in front of them on the counter.
'Thanks,' Rayne muttered, placing coins on the counter in payment.

Now to find a table. To the left was a group of older wizards and witches, looking more than a little drunk. On the left, what looked like a family playing wizards chess. Rayne cautiously moved forwards, careful not to spill their drink as they went. Eventually they spotted an almost empty table, tucked away in the corner. A girl, about the same age as Rayne, by the looks of it, was sat, reading a book.

She had blazing red hair which, from Rayne's angle covered her face. Over the stranger's chair was a yellow scarf. A Hufflepuff scarf, Rayne realised. They made a beeline for the table, deftly weaving past other people, focused on getting to the girl with the hair of flames.
'Hey' said Rayne, 'mind if I sit here?' they asked, indicating the seat opposite. They realised that the fellow Hufflepuff was reading 'Hogwarts: A History'. Rayne hadn't gotten round to reading it yet, but intended to over the holidays.

Emma was interested in the text if only because she was learning about Hogwarts, where she would stay for the better part of the year for seven years. She had just about gotten to the halfway point when a voice sounded much closer to her. The drone of the voices had been comforting white noise with the occasional sharp, raised voices. But this voice was very close to her and she was pretty sure it was directed to her.

Placing her bookmark in the pages, she looked up, observing a tall person with hair dyed a deep green, who was also wearing glasses. Realizing a question had been asked, Emma's cheeks burned and brightened, but she hurried to say "ummmm...yes, of course." She waved to the seat across from her, hoping that she hadn't sat there just staring for too long. That would be rude.

Taking a sip of her butterbeer, she looked around awkwardly, knowing she should say something. "do....do you go to Hogwarts?" Emma could have sworn she had seen them around, the hair a dead giveaway but she didn't know how else to start a conversation and it seemed even ruder to just sit there and stare or read. Stumbling forward with awkward conversation, she said somewhat quietly and quickly, "I'm a first year Hufflepuff. But you must be upper year if you do attend Hogwarts."

@Rayne Chance

Discussion with @Emma Wynn

Rayne pulled out the chair, carefully setting down their glass of butterbeer. They slid onto the seat, grateful to have found the table, and unzipped their coat hanging it loosely over the back of their chair
'I do go to Hogwarts, I'm a first year Hufflepuff too.' They sipped at their butterbeer. It had to be the best thing they had ever tasted. It was sweet and frothy and warmed them to the core. If home had a taste, it would be this. 'I'm Rayne by the way, nice to meet you.' They grinned at their fellow Hufflepuff. Since attending Hogwarts, their confidence had peaked, and they actually enjoyed meeting people, rather than fearing it.

'I hope you dont mind me commenting, but I just have to say that I love your hair,' Rayne said, slightly randomly. Hopefully, Rayne thought, this would slightly ease the tension. They knew how awkward first interactions could be, and wanted to make an effort to keep the conversation going, if this person wanted to converse.

'Busy today, isn't it?' They commented mundanely, not quite sure what to add to the conversation. Eventually, their eyes flickered over to the window, watching people walk by, bags loaded with shopping, or dragging along protesting children. A drunken cry came from the table Rayne had walked past. It was difficult to distinguish why. Their focus flickered back to the girl. 'Sorry, just daydreaming.'

Emma was surprised to hear that the person was a first year as well. She had truly thought that they were older. But it made no difference. Although hearing that they were a first year Hufflepuff made Emma happy but also almost more nervous if possible. After all if she messed up, it wasn't like she could easily avoid them. Although really she shouldn't think like that. Her mother was always saying to look on the bright side and it would be more likely to happen.

Realizing once more she was in her head, Emma tuned back in to the room catching their name quickly. Taking a sip of the delicious butterbeer, she tried to casually say (although it was a bit rushed again), "Hi Rayne, I'm Emma, nice to meet you as well." She raised her hand from where it was wrapped around her butterbeer bottle to give a little wave. Grinning, she just thought to herself, stop being weird!

"Oh, thank you! I think yours is much cooler. Is it hard to keep up?" Emma did enjoy the color, it was very pretty on Rayne. "I thought of dying my hair as well, but red hair is difficult to dye or so I've been told", Emma randomly interjected, hoping Rayne didn't think she was being selfish in the conversation.

"Just a bit. I was kind of surprised." Emma answered, looking around as she did so. Honestly, Emma wasn't bothered by it, it was just background noise to her. She wasn't a huge fan of silence so appreciated it.

Emma came back to the table, after Rayne spoke. "Oh no, it's fine I do the same sometimes. Might even be easier with how busy it is. Are you getting some more supplies for school? I kind of didn't want to come but my parents don't want me to run out of anything and the twins wanted to come again, so family outing." Emma rambled on, stopping herself before it turned into a very long ramble.

Awkwardness for the win @Rayne Chance

Easing the tension with @Emma Wynn

The stranger introduced herself as Emma, a nice name. She waved at Rayne grinning. Rayne couldn't help but like her smile. It made them feel compelled to like them, and want to be friends. They took another sip of butterbeer, still stunned by the taste. They placed the glass down, with a satisfying chink.

Emma was complimenting their hair, it made Rayne feel so happy. They wished so much to befriend this person.
'Thanks,' they replied 'My mum used to work in a beauty salon, so she did it for me at the start of summer. I planned to dye it back for school, but when my Hogwarts letter came I decided to keep it this way.' They stopped for a second, hoping their conversation wasn't boring.
'I'm muggle-born,' They added in explanation.

'I came here mainly for my family. They were desperate to see more of well..' Rayne couldn't quite find the right way to describe it. 'See more magic, I guess. I have twin sisters too, younger, so they were obviously desperate to come.' Shame they are never as desperate to see me off on the train journey. Rayne thought to themselves. The twins were never eager to come and say goodbye when they were due to go onto the Hogwarts Express.
'Mum's all for "introducing magic into our lives" as she says it. She's convinced the twins are magic too, but so far they haven't shown any magical potential, thankfully' Rayne realised how long they had been speaking for. 'Sorry, not to go on for ages.'

Rayne enjoyed talking about themselves, but not in a self-centred way. They were a storyteller and loved to tell long, glamourized versions of their experiences. It helped to make less nice memories seem nicer. Sugar-coating reality. It could be worse. Not every food tastes good with sugar. No amount of sweetness can fix a decaying apple. Rayne had decided long ago that if something could be fixed with a bit of sugar, they should be grateful for it. Lots of people had it worse.

'Anyways...' Rayne wasn't sure what to say. 'Tell me about yourself. What's your family like? You got any pets? What do you think of Hogwarts?' Rayne always liked to ask 3 questions in conversations with new people. It gave them a good amount to talk about without being overwhelming. That was Rayne's logic anyway.

Emma glanced around, her hands wrapped loosely around her butterbeer bottle, as she fidgeted slightly. Not out of boredom or anything like that, just because. Usually she twisted or played with the simple moon necklace around her neck, but this time it was just swinging her foot back and forth a bit. Looking back at Rayne, Emma grinned happily. "I mean, who wouldn't? I think a school of magic is going to care less about hair color unlike some muggle schools." It surprised Emma that the world muggle so casually slipped out of her mouth. It wasn't like the term was new to her but it was the first time she really thought of it as her being separate from her normal life.

Emma was pleasantly amused when Rayne shared that they were muggle-born. She knew there were others like her but it wasn't a question you just ran about throwing out there. "Oh, yeah, me too! I can tell you that was a bit of a shock. I honestly thought it was all some weird joke. I mean who would think magic was real?" Emma had been skeptical of the whole situation before attending the school. Now it was kind of hard to believe that she hadn't realized the small incidents of magic that occurred.

Emma grimaced slightly in sympathy. After all, she had the same feeling. And even worse was the fact that now the twins were adamant they were going to Hogwarts. "Twin sisters, I can only imagine how that must be. My brother and sister are twins. Sometimes I swear they have their own brand of magic." What Emma didn't share was that she frequently felt left out among the siblings as the twins were quite different from her and seemed to click with each other much more than her.

"No, no please, it's fine. I like listening. Sometimes it's nice to just sit and listen. You always learn new things. My parents have been pretty chill and haven't bothered me much about magic or whatnot, but the twins are constantly demanding to know what we study and adamant that they will be going to Hogwarts too. I just try to avoid the subject around them altogether. Because really who knows? Though maybe there's some studies or something. Might be worth a library trip, I guess." Emma crinkled her nose. The library was amazing but not when you were trying to find something that you didn't even think existed or when it could lead to disappointing family. So she'd likely just ignore the whole thing until the situation resolved itself one way or the other. Likely it would blow up on her but that was a problem for future Emma.

"hmmmmm....well you already know a bit about the twins, they're two years younger and like I said I don't really think they're magical but I could have missed something I suppose. My mum and dad are fairly normal if a little bit too lovey dovey," Emma laughed quietly as her parents always seemed to be engaging in some form of affection. "And I'm very close to my grandpa, although I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like to lately. I think I might see if Mum and Dad would let me get an owl. I think they're interesting and useful as well with the whole letter writing thing. Though I still find it a bit weird using quills to write letters and sending them by owl." Emma stopped to take another quick sip as well as a breath, parched as she was talking more than she had expected. But Rayne made her feel comfortable even when Emma was a little awkward. "Hogwarts is interesting. I swear I've still not found my way around fully, and it's cool to think about what we'll be able to do later on. I just feel a little overwhelmed at times as I have no clue about some of the things the other students talk about." Taking a pause, she decided to avoid the first question about family, as they had shared a bit already and Emma wasn't sure if they'd like to share more. "What about you? Any pets? What was your impression of Hogwarts and how has it changed?"

A bit rambly @Rayne Chance

Deep conversations with @Emma Wynn

Rayne sipped absently at their butterbeer as they listened to Emma, remembering their own irritation and disapproval at the strict hair colour policies in muggle schools. What harm did a couple streaks of green in someone's hair do? It wasn't going to change anything, but perhaps a few envious (or judgemental) looks.

They almost gasped when Emma mentioned The idea of this being a practical joke, because it was an entirely relatable idea.
'I thought that too!' Rayne exclaimed, somewhat relieved not to be the only one. 'I fully believed it was a big practical joke. My mum had to convince me for hours to go to Diagon Alley with her. She "saw the owl drop the letter off with her own eyes." I was convinced she was involved in the joke.' Rayne blabbered. It was oddly validating to know that someone had a similar experience.

It was also a relief to hear Emma had twins too. Someone who may be able to relate to them. People always say that being an only child is the worst, because you never have anyone to hang out with, but Rayne thought that having twins was way worse. You had to watch two people with a unique bond be so happy together, and still have no one to hang out with. Not only this, but it meant that it was very easy to get a bit lost in the family, having to share the attention of parents.
Could be worse though, at least Rayne didn't have to share the house with triplets. Could be worse.

Rayne couldn't help but realise how similar the pair were, muggle-born, with twins and very relatable experiences. It really was like having a breath of fresh air.

'An owl would be an awesome pet,' Rayne commented. 'I think Tawny owls are just gorgeous, they're my favourite' Tawny owls were one of the three owls Rayne knew, Tawny, Barn and Snowy owls. They still were technically their favourite though.

'What about me...' Rayne pondered aloud. 'Well my parents are cool. They are prone to being isanely overprotective, but they're cool. They allow most things, which is why my house is like a zoo. My dad got a snake a few years after I was born, but he's always referring to it as mine. He's a bit of an exotic pet superfan, so one day he also surprised me with a frog, much to my mum's disapproval. We have 3 rats, one for each of the children.' Rayne cared for most of the pets, voluntarily, because they adored animals. 'Finally, a pair of cats, Ferris and Sadie. I want to bring Ferris to Hogwarts soon' It was certainly a lot of animals, and a claim often questioned.

'I think Hogwarts is incredible. It can be scary, sometimes, suddenly going from a world where magic is pulling a rabbit out of a hat to a world where magic is as normal as the Internet is for muggles.' Rayne paused. 'I can't help but believe this is all a dream and I'll go wake up, back to my old life, and this whole thing will turn into a hazy, confusing shadow of a dream.' Rayne sipped their butter beer. 'Sometimes I almost hope it is a dream. Sometimes I miss just living a simple, more normal life.' They confessed.

Emma grinned at the fact that Rayne had had similar thoughts to her. After all it really was a shocking revelation. Especially when the one time she showed a somewhat large amount of magic, her parents had thought she was lying. That had not been fun. "Yeah, I'm not sure how my parents believed it quicker than me. It seemed a bit odd but I guess the professor that visited and did a couple pieces of magic really convinced them." Though again, that could have been faked by someone good enough or so Emma had contended at the time. It was only when visiting Diagon Alley that she had realized that it was the truth although she hadn't been happy she had to leave behind her muggle friends with a lackluster explanation and only able to contact them via snail mail. Though things had been so busy that she hadn't had much time to write. And it was showing in the fact that her muggle best friend had only gotten together with her once or twice during the holidays and those occasions had been strained.

Deciding that that was enough thinking disappointing thoughts when she could be making a friend, Emma mentally shook it off, bringing a smile back to her face and making sure to pay attention to Rayne. It seemed like the two could be good friends what with their similar backgrounds and the conversation they were having.


"The Tawny owl is beautiful! They look a bit alienlike or innocent, I can't decide which. It's the eyes, I think. Emma chuckled slightly to herself. After all, who would compare an owl to an alien? Although the eyes did kind of freak her out a bit. "I think the Eastern Screech Owl is super cute but I'd like a Barred owl as well. The colors very understated but pretty." Emma blushed slightly, sure that Rayne hadn't wanted to hear her opinion on owls. But it had just popped out.

Emma couldn't help but curl her nose a bit, and shiver at Rayne's descriptions of the their pets, then blushed once more. "I'm so sorry, that was really rude. Snkes just.....freak me out a bit. Not that I've really ever interacted with them. But your pets sound really cool! If you do bring Ferris to school, I'd love to meet them! Do you take care of the animals? Is it hard?" Emma asked curiously, wondering how they could manage such different animals. Emma would need lists to keep things straight!

"Yes! And the fact that it's a very different set of skills and almost a whole other culture to learn about. A bit of culture shock really." Emma exclaimed, glad someone had felt the same. Especially when Rayne mentioned wishing to go back to a normal life. Emma looked down, trying to decide if she really felt comfortable sharing her original feelings with Rayne. ".....well actually, I was a bit awful about the whole thing at first. You know, leaving friends and the comfort of home, but also familiar faces and whatnot. It just kind of was a bit too much and then the nerves about being weird or not knowing enough and being a failure really just hit me. But things have gotten better for the most part." Emma continued to look at the table and sipped her butterbeer, hoping that she hadn't turned Rayne off from talking with her.

Getting serious @Rayne Chance

Reassuring @Emma Wynn

Rayne recalled the events leading to their invitation to Hogwarts. They didn't remember the date, but the vividly remembered the entire day. They had gone for a day out with their mum, a walk round the local nature reserve and a trip to the book shop. They still hadn't finished the book they'd purchased, it was collecting dust on the shelf. The opportunity to read it just never presented itself.

They got home, to learn the twins and Dad had gotten cross and had an argument. Something about the twins not getting what they wanted, resulting in a petty fight. The twins had been snappy with Rayne as a result, but it hardly made a dent in Rayne's mood. Their mum had stepped outside to empty the bins, and came back minutes later, looking like she had seen a ghost. Of course, it wasn't a ghost she had seen but an owl, with a letter addressed to Rayne.

The envelope had a their name written beautifully on the front, in glistening ink, and on the back a wax seal. Rayne carefully peeled the envelope open, freeing a piece of parchment, slightly yellowed, with the same handwriting and ink as the envelope. They read it aloud to the room, which had the entire family at the moment, in a state of utter disbelief. As they finished, the twins burst out laughing.
'You, magic?' One had commented. Rayne had been too confused to observe which.
'I think it's real.' Stated Rayne's mum, Eliza.
'I saw it with my own eyes, an owl swooped down and dropped it infront of me. An owl I say!' She exclaimed

'Ha ha, very funny.' Rayne replied sarcastically. 'Did my friends put you up to this? Which one wrote it?' They just didn't believe it to be true.
'Rayne, my dear I'm not lying. I don't know how it's real but it is.' It had taken a lot of convincing Rayne it was real, but eventually they caved and decided to humour their mum. Of course, their mum turned out to be right, and now here Rayne was.

Emma started talking about owls, so Rayne nodded, genuinely listening, but with no clue what any of it meant.
'Barred owls have gorgeous colours,' they agreed, no idea what exactly the colours were, but sure Emma was right. Owls weren't Rayne's thing, they knew next to nothing of the species, but enjoyed listening to Emma speak about them.

'I guess with pets it's just routine. I know that before I go to bed, I have to change everyones water, and when I wake up I have to feed the cats and so on. It feels odd not doing it any more, but it's been nice seeing all of them over Christmas. The twins have taken interest in the animal care, supervised by mum and dad, so they don't end up accidentally killing someone off.' Rayne laughed.
'If I do ever bring Ferris in I'll be sure to get you two acquainted.'

Rayne stopped speaking for a moment, letting the conversation flow on. Emma looked concerned for a moment, and Rayne was about to ask if she was OK when she spoke, explaining how nervous she felt, and how much she missed friends. About the worry of failure, or being seen as some kind of social outcast. Rayne wasn't sure how to react, but said, almost subconsciously,
'That must be difficult, I'm glad it's getting better and I'm here for you.' Not the most immediately helpful advice, but they hoped it was even a small bit comforting.